Friday, October 30, 2009

This is one of the first boards I shaped with a lot of guidance from my father. It is inspired by the ancient hawaiian Kiko'o style boards Tom 'Pohaku' Stone has been making. I called it 'Kumu' which means teacher. The timber is Pink Floss and was cut down from our friends property. So far it has been ridden at Bells Beach, Raglan and the Maldives. Pic by Andrew Kidman.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Some old pictures I stumbled across recently. From top clockwise - The original Valla Farmhouse and the birthplace of Valla Surfboards. Two crisp new single fins (in the middle is Peter Connelly, an old friend and surfing buddy of my fathers). Paul finishing a board with a polish - note the bare feet and the view from the polish room.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

The latest Pacific Longboarder magazine is hitting the shelves this week and the main article is about three longboarders from my area (Coffs coast) Valla team rider Brett Caller has 3 pages and a small write up. These pics were a few portraits I did for the opening page.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Finless Fish shaped by Paul Joske for Derek Hynd's finless event. Both Heath and I rode it down at King Island and the board probably worked a little too well. The curved control surfaces slow the board down after you take off, sucking you back into the pocket then running along at wave speed. One crisp morning I saw Heath get a tube and come out.

On the weekend I got to surf and hang out with my good mate Issac Fields. He is a super nice guy and an amazing surfer. He told me on the weekend that he doesn't own a board with more than one fin, I thought that was pretty cool.This is a pic of him in his backyard at Evans with his three old ladies.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Once again the October long weekend has come and gone, and for the Evans Head Over 8's another very successful comp. This year Sage was unable to come with Jack and I to defend his titles in the retro single fin and his weapon of choice the old mal. None the less team Valla prevailed with young Jack taking out the u/18 boys division and also coming second in the retro single fin, good on you mate. After a super fun weekend of hanging with good friends and surfing a bunch load of heats, I also come away with a win in the open mens 9ft, a second to good mate and amazing surfer Issac fields in the old mal, and a 4th place in the bic surf boards divison.Here are a few pics from the weekend, check out the one where the fishing boat got stuck on the bar. heavyyyy.